Saturday, September 14, 2013

At tonight's LCC meeting, we discussed why it is important for more people to learn the land development processes.

Well, how's this for an example?

While LCC members were being told by the County Planning Commission, at tonight's LCC meeting, about how important their input is to the County for long range land use planning, the BOCC was busy handing over even more keys to our County to developers.

The Commissioners quietly abrogated even more of their responsibilities today by passing a measure allowing developers to hire INDEPENDENT planners, etc., to sign off on projects stating that they meet all of the requirements (LDC, Comp Plan, and Community Plans). Who's going to be held accountable for those projects built only to find out that they DON'T meet those standards? The County? The developer? The independent planner? No one! And, once again, the community will be stuck with an inappropriately constructed or placed monstrosity.

REALLY? They just handed the regulatory process over to the developers too! Is this REALLY what we elected these Commissioners to do on our behalf? The vote was 6-0 to approve (Miller was not present). 6-0! Not one Commissioner is worth his or her weight in sand.

Next week, they will vote on a resolution to; a) reduce developer's fees by 60% for a year (shifting the estimated 12.4 MILLION dollar burden to the taxpayer), and b) "streamline" the approval process for developers, making it easier to go straight through to construction.

Slowly but surely, the 31 pro-developer recommendations of the EPSC (Economic Prosperity Stakeholders Committee) are quietly being implemented, a few at a time. You know how to oil a frog?

If we all don't learn these processes and become involved, then NO ONE has any right to complain about the inappropriate projects (a mall, office building, pig farm, a 1,000+ student 180,000 sq/ft school, etc.,) that will be built in their quiet rural residential neighborhoods!!

DO NOT EVER SAY THAT YOU WERE NEVER MADE AWARE OF WHAT IS GOING ON.

Anyone wishing to get involved, let me know. I, for one, have had enough.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

As per the website, Gates Sr. High School will close (9th to 12 grade). The school was originally planned to be built on a site off Sunset Lane, next to Nye Park raising concerns about traffic and environmental impact. This is no longer going to occur. The Lutz Citizen's Coalition which fought the proposed location has stated in an email "we are CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC, and are proceeding forward in all of our endeavors (Lawsuit, Public Records Requests, etc.). The letter is extremely vague about their future plans for the property on Sunset Lane."

There is an article in the Lutz Community News on the closing. *******Full text of letter from the Gates High School website:

"Please be aware that this announcement only impacts the families of 9th and 10th grade students. While grades 7 and 8 met at the same physical location, they are not part of the GATES Senior High School charter. Grades 7 and 8 will continue to be held at the Florida Ave campus of Learning Gate Community School.

Letter from GATES Chairman

Dear GATES High School Parents, "It is with an extremely heavy heart that I am writing this email. When I accepted the opportunity to join the board of directors for GATES I felt that this was a difficult yet solvable problem. With the two schools working in cohesion together the resources and brain trust was available to help the schools grow, Learning Gates had been thriving for over 10 years and both schools had obtained high performing school status within Hillsborough County. I still feel as though we could have made it work but the obstacles that continued to be presented by the board of LGCS pushed us to far down the road. The failure to prepare for another property and lack of planning on behalf of the boards has put the schools in a position where there was not enough space to house the two schools without some modification. Having said that it is the determination that we are going to have to close the High School for the upcoming school year, which will cause the charter to be cancelled by Hillsborough County.

Many of you have hung in there while we tried to figure out a possible solution and I am very grateful for your faith and support. Like you I am now forced to analyze my children’s schooling options. I also realize some of you have waited past the choice deadline and now have to scramble to find a school for your high schoolers, many of you will have questions and concerns that I will have limited experience in answering. What I am going to work on this week are resources to aid you in the transition. I will follow up this email with details as to what resources we can provide to help answer questions and direct you to any available resources.

I wish all of you the best in the coming years and regret that we will not be able to fulfill the vision of the GATES High School.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Hillsborough County will hold a public meeting to discuss and provide information on the new Head Start/Early Head Start Center at Nye Park in Lutz. The purpose of this meeting is to offer the community the opportunity to tour the new Head Start facility, and ask questions and give input on the facility. An open house will be held from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. to offer facility tours and to meet the staff, and for residents to learn more about Head Start/Early Head Start. A public meeting then will be held at 5:30 p.m. to present information on available programs at the new facility and receive public input and comments.

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Join Lutz in an old time small town celebration of Independence Day. On Wednesday, July 4, 2012 come to downtown Lutz (US 41 and Lutz Lake Fern). There will be a 5K Race/Walk, Parade, Fire Dept BBQ, Cake Auction and announcement of the winner of the Guv'na Race.

Lutz Lake Fern will be closed at US 41 during the events. The Dog Park will be closed. The Library will be open.

Parking: If you are coming via US 41, you can park at the Old Lutz Schoolhouse, or in the Winn Dixie shopping center (Sunset and 41) parking lot. If you are coming from Dale Mabry, you can try parking in the Oscar Cooler sports complex and the neighboring soccer complex.

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Lutz Volunteer Fire Department is conducting its annual membership drive. The Dept. is in its 59th year and is one of only 6 Volunteer Fire Departments in Hillsborough Fire Rescue. The Station (#24) is located at 129 W. Lutz Lake Fern Road. The annual July 4th celebration, parade and chicken BBQ is held at the station.

The Dept is managed by the Lutz Volunteer Fire association and it is estimated it saves Hillsborough County $500,000 a year. It only costs $30 for Residential Membership and $50 for Business Membership. Please join.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Danielle Dominguez of Tampa did not make it past tonight's rounds in Las Vegas of So You Think You Can Dance. She had some bad luck in getting kicked in the head by her partner. She had to go to the hospital and that delayed her time to fully practice with a group.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

The Staregrounds, is an outdoor concert venue in Lutz located in the 20 acre wooded area at the NE Corner of Sunset and Livingston. The site opened up in March 2012 and is run by Lutz resident Timothy Shanks of the band 16 Second Stare He is now seeking a minor zoning modification to apparently formalize the venue. A review of a concert at the site can be found on the tbt*. The Staregrounds also has a Facebook site.

Stage

Support Building

The application lists an address at 2518 Lane which is the home on the property facing Sunset. The website lists the address of venue as 18515 N. Livingston, likely the address of the parking area below.

The Zoning # is 12-0601. The hearing is scheduled for July 24, 2012 at 9:00AM in front of the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners.

Details from the request:

Within the already defined commercially designated area on the site plan, the applicant requests the
ability to conduct music performances in an open air concert setting. An open air concert stage and
accessory building to support the concert stage will be placed internal to the site as depicted on the
proposed alternative plan. All conditions associated with the current approved General Site Plan shall
remain in effect to maintain the development rights and design currently provided. The concert venue
is not designed to include structured or permanent seating. It is intended to offer the community a
place to stage and promote occasional musical events, to conduct community fund raisers, support
music lessons, and generally support company and family functions that promote musical arts for
recreation.

It is the intent to offer this venue until such time as the site develops with the
"neighborhood commercial" uses as conditioned and permitted by the General Site Plan.
The site plan is amended to include two buildings (as depicted on the proposed alternative site plan)
that will be utilized as the concert stage and accessory building to support concert activities.

For
purposes of developing the site for the proposed open air concert venue, the following conditions are
proposed:

All open air concert activities will occur within the area defined as "Neighborhood Commercial"
on the current site plan and illustrated on the proposed alternative plan.

There will be no
permanent seating areas constructed.

Access to the site and areas designated for parking shall be located as illustrated on the
proposed alternative plan.

If necessary, additional landscaping may be added as needed to attenuate sound.

Events will be limited to Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, between the
hours of 3:00 PM and 11:00 PM, with functional operations (sound and shows) ending at 10:00 PM.

For full zoning details see below. Note that the original zoning for the Planned Development occurred in 1988.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The proposed “Gates” middle and high school development was first brought to our attention over two years ago by Patti Girard, the owner of Learning Gate Community School. The LCA has a ten year history with the school, and know them to be good community members. Their current elementary school, located off Hanna Road went through a similar review process when it was initially approved. They have been good custodians of the property and honored their environmental and other plan conditions as they have built out their facility. They have done what they have said they would do, and have constantly strived to minimize impacts to surrounding neighbors.

After working with Ms Girard and through numerous changes to their original middle school/high school plan, we believe The Gates will be an asset to the community. Through this planning process we have been successful in moving the primary entrance to the U.S. 41 driveway. (Note that the requirements of high schools being located on 4 lane roadways are an outcome of prior initiatives of the LCA from over a decade ago). However, development and site plan approvals need to be structured to insure that U.S. 41 remains the primary entrance and that traffic is sufficiently limited on Sunset Lane so as not to substantially degrade its operation. Additionally, environmental issues continue to need attention as planning proceeds. . . . .

. . . . 1. The level of service numbers (LOS) are created during “peak” traffic hours, ie. 6-8:30 am and 4:30-6:30 pm. The school has agreed to stagger their start and finish times with the kids so they do NOT combine with the local peak hour traffic. Therefore, there will be no deterioration in LOS. However, there are no conditions specifically mandating start and end times to the school. There must be a condition that specifically addresses the start and end time of the school.2. There needs to be a maximum allowed cars to enter the school off of Sunset
Lane. There should be a definite number of “parking passes” allowed the high
schoolers, ie. 100. With the 60-70 administrative staff there would total less than
200 trips on Sunset staggered from say 9 – 10 am. It will not interfere with the
Lutz Learning Center or with the elementary school traffic on 41. There must be
a condition limiting this number.3. Parking passes or some electronic gate must be placed on Sunset or there is no
controlling the traffic. There must be a condition requiring this electronic
gate, or there is no way to control this traffic. . . . .

. . . . Therefore, we offer “conditional support” for this project provided the above concerns
are properly addressed. We would hope the LCA would continue to be part of the
permitting process to ensure the safeguards are in place for the community.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The last edition of Where in Lutz featured the Preaching Goose. The Goose is located in the east side yard of the house at the SW corner of Sunset and Cypress Cove - across from Tims Memorial Presbyterian Church. As with all of the Where In Lutz items I'm curious as to the rest of the story. Did the Goose had something to do with the Church?

This edition of Where in Lutz features "Hanger 18"

If you have an item for Where in Lutz, send a me a photo and tell me where it is. If you don't have a photo, tell me where it is and I will take the photos. If you know the history behind something, please share.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Courtney Kirby of Lutz was on "So You Think You Can Dance" Wednesday night (6/6/12). Her grandmother taught her dance and was with her on the show, sitting with the Judges. She is going to Las Vegas. (See updates below)

You can find videos of her dancing at her YouTube site.
Here is a video of her from two years ago

Courtney brought her sassy former-dancer Grandma. This old lady was hysterical. Nigel brought her up to watch from his chair and Grandma gets a bit fresh with him then cries her way through Courtney’s very beautiful routine. Courtney is someone I think the audience would vote for. She is cute and talented, in a very Lauren Froderman sort of way. Where the first time a choreographer makes her sexy we are all a bit shocked but she pulls it off and we love her even more. Mary and Debbie say Vegas, but Nigel said choreo. Grandma tells him to change his mind so he doesn’t look ridiculous. Hey Courtney – bring Grams to Vegas, will ya?

Tampa was also represented, by Danielle Dominguez.

Here is the recap of Danielle's performance from SYTYCD.net

Oh how I love a name with alliteration. And she loves bacon. Like, a lot. My arteries clogged just watching the video. But then Nigel said suggested that Mary and Debbie would like to try this diet… yikes. Danielle also said her mom used to cheer – so Mom did a routine in the aisle. Good on ya, Momma! Her routine was bizarre in a great way. I could imagine Sonya Tayeh sitting at home just aching to get her hands on her, which Mary brought up as well. I love the “weird” dancers (like Mark Kanemura) and was happy she was sent to Vegas.

There is an article in the Tampa Bay Times about Courtney's 86 year old grandmother - Eva Dean Booth and her appearance with Courtney at SYTYCD.. She lives in Carrollwood (part of northern Tampa area - south of Lutz) "taught and studied dance as a young hoofer in Utah 70 years ago".

As relatives gathered at Winners Grill in Tampa to watch the episode, they got a surprise; Eva Dean showed up in the segment as much as her granddaughter, earning her 15 minutes of fame with a playful, sassy spirit that clearly delighted Lythgoe.

Further Internet research reveals that Eva was not the only dancer in her family. Her late sister Louise Waite Lauriski "touched many lives by inspiring, promoting, and teaching dance. In 1991 she was awarded a Life-Time Achievement Award by Daniel J. Hoctor's Dance Caravan Professional Dance Teacher's Association in recognition of exemplary devotion and dedication to the training, guidance and inspiration of aspiring young dancers.
Her legacy lives on through Tueller School of Dance, Logan; Coggins Dance Company, Ogden; Tracy's Dance Academy, Salt Lake City; Dana Smith Dance Studio, Pocatello, Idaho, and her many granddaughters and great-granddaughters who love dance.
An article that appeared in a newspaper summed it up best, "The ballet number was nothing short of an extravaganza. I marvel at Mrs. Lauriski's ability to make every child a featured performer, if but for a little while. When better things are done, she will do them."

Monday, June 04, 2012

The Hearing Master has approved the Special Use Permit 12-0429 for the Learning Gate / Gates High School. Full details are below.

Conclusions of LawBased upon the testimony received, the evidence submitted, a review of the Development Services Department case file, the staff report of the Development Services Department, and a review of the Land Development Code, it is concluded that the Special Use is supportable and that the charter school expansion is appropriate for the subject location.

It is concluded that the applicant has satisfied the requirements of the Land Development Code for approval of the Special Use Permit.

DecisionApproved with conditions as recommended by Development Services Department staff as amended at the hearing. and as conditioned below:

The Sunset Lane driveway shall be limited to right-in, right-out and left-out turning movements only. The access connection shall be designed and constructed by the developer to physically prohibit eastbound to northbound left turn movements into the school site. The developer shall design and construct a westbound right turn lane on Sunset Lane into the site.If available, the site shall be served by public wastewater service. Hillsborough County shall determine the availability of waste water service in accordance with existing availability determination procedures. If waste water service is not available and septic tanks are to be used, septic tanks shall only be located outside the WRPA Zone 2 boundaries.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Using the following tool from Hillsborough County, I have located information about drainage improvements to Hanna Rd and Sunset Lanes.

CIP Number:

46132012

Start Date:

01-JUN-2008

End Date:

05-JUL-2013

Project Name:

Sunset Ln and Hanna Rd Drainage Improvement

Program:

Stormwater

Sub-Program:

Stormwater Construction

Sub-Sub Program:

Major Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Program FY08-13

CIE Level of Service:

To Be Assigned

Urban Service Area:

No

Estimated Cost:

$308,400

Project Description:

Const 18" crossdrain at low point of road, then pipe west to Hanna Rd. then north to point near finger of lake (approx. 150), then pipe into lake. Alt.  const pipe and swale system (approx. 1400) along south R/W to crossdrain into Hanna Lake This is a sub-project of the over-arching 46132 Major Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Program FY08-13. This sub-project deals specifically w/ Sunset Ln and Hanna Rd intersection.

Construct inlet and pipe to drainage system on Sunset Lane. Obtain easement and pipe west to pond. This is a sub-project of the over-arching 46131 Minor Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Program FY08-13. This sub-project deals specifically w/ Hanna Rd.

Other area stormwater and road improvement projects:

CIP Number:

46131067

Start Date:

30-APR-2010

End Date:

08-FEB-2014

Project Name:

San Rio Circle Drainage Improvement

Program:

Stormwater

Sub-Program:

Stormwater Construction

Sub-Sub Program:

Minor Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Program FY08-13

CIE Level of Service:

To Be Assigned

Urban Service Area:

No

Estimated Cost:

$240,723

Project Description:

Culvert under road. This is a sub-project of the over-arching 46131 Minor Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Program FY08-13. This sub-project deals specifically w/ San Rio Circle

CIP Number:

46133158

Start Date:

01-OCT-2012

End Date:

31-OCT-2013

Project Name:

17732 Morninghigh Dr Culvert Replacement Project

Program:

Stormwater

Sub-Program:

Stormwater Construction

Sub-Sub Program:

Culvert Replacement Program FY08-13

CIE Level of Service:

Urban Service Area:

No

Estimated Cost:

$60,000

Project Description:

This is a sub-project of the over-arching 46133 Culvert Replacement Program. This sub-project deals specifically w/ 17732 Morninghigh Dr . Slip line 160' of 18"cmp from headwall at pond to curb inlet at road side.

CIP Number:

69046046

Start Date:

01-SEP-2012

End Date:

30-SEP-2012

Project Name:

Cypress Cove Road Resurfacing

Program:

Transportation

Sub-Program:

To Be Assigned

Sub-Sub Program:

NA

CIE Level of Service:

Urban Service Area:

No

Estimated Cost:

$87,449

Project Description:

This is a sub-project of the over-arching 69046 Pavement Treatment Program. Rehabilitation of existing County roads via asphalt and other specified methods. Geographical limits of work are as follows. Street From To CYPRESS COVE RD DEAD END CYPRESS COVE LN CYPRESS COVE RD CYPRESS COVE LN

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"There's a connectivity to Nye Park. One of the things that we're hoping to do isto maybe reach an agreement with the County Parks in order to keep Nye Park open, because I understand it's going to be closed because of funding."

I contacted Hillsborough County Parks Dept and received the following reply:

"Nye is not going to be closed, in fact, none of our Hillsborough County Parks are closing. Nye is a well-used community park with a use agreement with the Lutz Leagurettes for softball, agreements with the Hillsborough County School Board for adult education, we have homeschoolers using the facility and the building is available for rental and other community use. The only changes that are coming are improvements to the fields for the Leagurettes.

If there are ever any changes in use that are proposed by the county, we will host public meetings for comment before any other use is considered."

Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Lutz Community Plan has been referenced to in the Gates High School issue.

However trying to get details of the plan requires some digging.

An overview is provided on the Planning Commission Site. Information about with recent meetings can be found here. The most current version is here. Archives with more maps and prior meetings and other documentation is found here. A large foldable brochure is here

Lutz Community Plan Vision:
The Lutz community appreciates and welcomes things that create the “feeling” or “image” of openness. Residents have a strong sense of their heritage and history, and want to remain in touch with natural systems, wildlife and the environment.

“Lutz will continue to be a community whose citizens treasure open spaces over urban or suburban form. We appreciate and welcome things that create the “feeling” or “image” of openness. We have a strong sense of our heritage and history, and will remain in touch with natural systems, wildlife and the environment. We also have a strong sense of independence and individuality, and will work hard to preserve our lifestyle with less dependence on governmental control and regulations.

We will also work to support more local, small businesses, while accepting the trade-off of traveling beyond Lutz for major goods and services. Lutz architecture will be diverse within a broad theme, and residential development will not be accomplished with conventional subdivisions.”

About Me

I’ve been married for the past 20 years. I’ve lived around the country and world, being the only American born member of my siblings. I’m a community activist and a serious amateur photographer. Recently, I’ve developed an avid interest in positive clicker training with our dogs.

From March 2005 until early 2007, I published the hyperlocal Seminole Heights Blog in TampaFlorida. It was selected in 2005 by the St. Petersburg Times *TBT as one of the six “must read blogs of the Tampa Bay area”, was runner up for Creative Loafing’s “2006 Best of the Bay – Best Local Blog,” and was described as “One of the best civic-oriented chronicles in the Bay Area”, as having “started a virtual movement” in Tampa area.